ctor kneeling in
front of the camera, stop-watch in hand and megaphone at lips, wearily
pleading: "Ginger up! Work fast! It will soon be over." Unfortunately,
there have been many such "funny" plays, and there will be more, for
the right kind of comedy is not to be had for the asking. The number
of scenes in a comedy photoplay arises from the necessity that the
action be brisk, scene follow scene rapidly, and the whole be played
from a full third to a half faster than is the case in a dramatic
subject.

To say that comedy requires a fuller script-treatment than is needed
for a dramatic subject does not mean that in writing comedy scripts
you should write in line after line of action that would only be
useful to give the director a few details which he could very well
think of himself. No matter what part of the script you are writing,
be constantly on the alert to avoid including non-essential details.
Take pains, of course, to show the director just what bit of by-play
it is that is responsible for a certain situation that will "get a
laugh," but do not be verbose, and do not go into tiresome details.
"It is a very easy matter, for a writer fired with enthusiasm, to
overwrite."

_4. Length of Comedy Photoplays_

Seemingly, the day of the split-reel comedy is past. A few years ago,
when one thousand feet was considered the proper length for the
average dramatic subject, a full-reel comedy was the exception. They
ran from four hundred to six hundred feet, the remainder of the reel
being taken up with a scenic or other educational subject. Thus we had
what came to be known as "split reels," as we have previously
explained. Today, even the slap-stick comedies are produced in not
less than one full reel, and they usually run to two reels. On the
other hand, there are one or two comedy-producing companies which
adhere to the single-reel length for their light comedies of domestic
life.

Far more than in writing dramatic scripts, you must be guided in
deciding the length of your comedy photoplay by the company to which
you are submitting. This entails taking a chance as to whether you
sell at all or not, in the event of your story's not being suitable
for the market at which you have aimed it. For example, those writers
who have both sold to and had scripts rejected by the editor who looks
after the wants of such a comedy team as Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Drew know
that if a script does come back from them it is seldom "pla